Professional Food Competition

RULES & REGULATIONS

Consumer
/ Retail Ready
All entrants must be considered certified food manufacturers
abiding and following all FDA regulations applicable to
commercial production of foods for consumer consumption.
All entries must be produced in a certified kitchen and/or
by certified co-packer.

You may enter as many products as you like. You may enter
the mild, medium and hot version of your hot sauce as individual
entries if desired. This increases your chances of winning.
You can also enter the same product in different categories
of the contest, further increasing your chances of winning.

All entrants will submit four samples of each product unless
otherwise noted in the entry form. Your product will be
shipped along with the entry form and full payment to the
designated collection site and must be received by the
entry date to be eligible.

America's Best Professional Food Competition reserves the
right to move products to the general category or to split
categories, as deemed necessary.

Fresh category entries must be packaged in dry ice and
must arrive at the contest address between the sates specified
on the entry form.

All food products must be labeled with ingredients and
nutritional information along with the name of the product.
All entries must be carefully packaged. America's Best
Professional Food Competition will not be held responsible
for any damage incurred during shipping.

All products entered into the Consumer/Retail ready contest
will be judged as is and will not be served or mixed with
any other products before tasting.

Cook-Off Division
All rules for entering the America's Best Professional
Food Competition apply to the Cook-Off division with the
following exceptions.

The Cook-Off division includes products, which must be
judged in a cooked application or in a mixture with other
products.

All products in the Cook-Off division will be prepared
by culinary professionals using the ingredients provided,
under controlled supervision.

Selection of the ingredients that are provided by America's
Best (such as chicken) will be at the sole discretion of
the America's Best Professional Food Competition and the
preparing chefs. Grilling, Finishing, Sauces & Seasoning
Rubs will be made with beef. Jerk Seasoning, Marinades,
and Wing Sauces will be made with Chicken unless otherwise
noted.

Dip and Salsa Mixes must be made with dried seasoning/ingredients
to be eligible for this category.

Wing Sauce must be labeled as a wing sauce to be eligible
for this category.

Beverages will be included in the Cook-Off division, as
most of these products must be mixed to get desired taste.
If you product is a mix, you may designate one ingredient
to be supplied by America's Best. Only products that are
labeled as a beverage or beverage mix will be accepted
into this category.

Best New Product in the Cook-Odd division must not have
been marked before August 1st 2006. All Best New product
entries must include a 100 words or less marketing statement
of the product to be judged and tasted against the written
statement.

Best Product Line
You must have between 4 to 10 food products or more
in your product line to qualify for Division IV. 3 complete
sets of your product line must be submitted along with
a 150 word of description on the versatility and uniqueness
of the product line. Only 1 Product line per
company is eligible. Each item submitted in the product
line will be sampled. If a rub/seasoning/mix is submitted
in the product line please submit a recipe (for that item)
and note it accordingly to the item or items submitted
(a rub/seasoning or mix) so our staff can follow your recipe
instructions. This is an individual category and no discounts
apply in conjunction with any other category entry for
this contest. A Special Trophy and Prize will be awarded
solely for this division. Company Name will be inscribed
in place of a product name.

Best New Product
Products must have not been marketed before May 1st 2006.
This division recognizes star achievement in the introduction
of a new product to the market. This division is an award
given based on blind tastings and a review of the marketing
statements provided by the contestants. The marketing description
must describe the product, but cannot give the company
or product name or appear on company letterhead.

Best New Product Division
The Best New Product category is divided into two divisions,
Food, (which four samples per entry are required) and Non-Food,
(which only one sample entry is required).

Entries must include a 100 word (or less) marketing statement.

In the Non-Food category, products will be judged visually
and on the provided written statements. Photos may be submitted.

All Non-Food products must weigh 40lbs or less and be portable.

Product entries will not be returned

Accessories Division
Accessories will be judged visually and a 100 word (or
less) written description provided by the contestant. No
products will be judged in actual application. Photos may
be submitted. Products in this category must weigh 40lbs
or less and be portable.

Product entries will not be returned

You do not need to enter separately for this award. If
you entered in any category you are automatically eligible
for the Overall Grand Prize award. This prize is awarded
to the single product with the highest overall score across
all categories.

Judging Criteria, Procedures
All product sampling will be conducted under the strictest
of standards using fair, impartial and blind judging methods.

All staff members of the America's Best Professional Food
Competition and the America's Best Food Show will be excluded
from judging. The decision of the judge committee is final,
may not be contested.

The judging panel will be made up of food industry professionals,
including chefs, restaurant owners, culinary instructors,
food writers, food manufactures not entered in the contest,
and other industry leader and professionals.

Products in the consumer-ready and Cook-off divisions will
be judged on the following criteria: appearance, aroma,
texture, flavor, and overall impression.

Products in the Best New product division Food will be
judged on: appearance, aroma, texture, flavor, overall
impression and comparison to marketing statement.

Products in the Best New Product division Non-Food will
be judged on: appearance, usage, overall impression and
comparison to marketing statement.

Score sheets are tabulated by the total score for each
entry and divided by the number of judging sheets for products
to get an overall average score.

Each entry is judged in a blind tasting using a numbered
cup method to represent each entry. Judges are not allowed
to see any indication of the brand, owner, or the manufacturer
of the products.

Winners Announcements
Winners will be announced at the America's Best Food Show. During the announcement of the winning products, the awards will be given to those winners who are present. For those who are not present; winners will be notified by staff members no later then December, 5th 2010 and awards will be shipped, (All winnings example: promotions and/or special event promotions, website promotions, advertisements, media promotions, ad promotions in Newspapers and Magazines for all competition winners will be issued and can take place up to 1 year from the date your company has won. Ads from all winners will need to be submitted to our office via email or direct mail to P.O. Box 2631, Capo Beach California, 92673 in a pdf format of 360 dpi for all print and website promotions for the winning products and companies.

DisclaimerOrganizers of the America's Best Professional Food
Competition will not be held responsible for lost or damaged
entries and reserve the right the refuse any product entries
that in their judgment may present a health hazard. All
declared winners are final. No leftover product will be
returned. All entry fees are non-refundable.

In any event, all interpretations of the rules and final
decisions will rest completely with the judges. The decisions
of the judges are binding, conclusive and final in all
matters.

By signing the entry form you understand the rules and
agree to abide by the decision of the judges.